Violet wandered around and around, calling now and then, and crying real tears every once in a while, until, at last, when the sun began to get lower and lower in the west, and the little girl knew it would soon be dark, she sobbed:
"Oh, what shall I do! Oh, where is my mother!"
And just then she heard a horse come trotting along. She could hear the gallop of the hoofs on the ground.
"Oh, maybe it's an Indian!" thought Vi. "We'd better hide, Su-San!"
She clasped the Japanese toy in her arms, and crouched down in the grass. But the trotting came nearer. Then Violet knew it was more than one horse.
"Maybe it's a whole band of Indians!" she whispered. "Oh, Su-San!"
Down in the tall grass she hid, but she kept on crying. And then, suddenly, close to her, a voice said:
"I thought I heard a child crying just now, didn't you, Jim?"
"Sounded like it, but what would a child be doing out here all alone?"
"I don't know, but I sure did hear it!"